PROPERTIES OF FRACTAL DIVINYLBENZENE MICROGELS

Microgels, small cross-linked structures with molecular weights of 10(5) g/mol less-than-or-equal-to M(w) less-than-or-equal-to 10(8) g/mol, have been synthesized via radical copolymerization of styrene and 10 mol% technical divinylbenzene in an inert solvent. The resulting products have been fractionated and characterized with GPC, viscometry, static and dynamic light scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, and dynamic mechanical shear experiments. These systems, when synthesized slightly below the critical transition from micro- to macrogelation, exhibit a scalable behavior of their static and dynamic properties and can be described as fractal structures. The data show that it is possible to generalize the gel transition to include all effects of dilution.